Editorial

By Sherly Isaac

In my childhood days once a person came to our church. He shared his testimony and sold some books. One of the books was “Tortured for Christ” by Richard Wurmbrand. This was the first time I read about the life story of Richard Wurmbrand. His sufferings were so troubling that I could never finish reading the book. He was a mighty man of God who suffered greatly for Christ. He was also the founder of “Voice of the Martyrs”

He was born in a Jewish family in Romania. In his school days he was in the communist group. But later on when he accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior he left the communist party. After realizing that Jesus is the only Savior of the world, he tirelessly worked for Christ in Romania. Because of that, he was imprisoned and he had to go through unspeakable, cruel tortures.

Once when the Communists came to power, they banned Christian worships and started to intimidate those who believed in Jesus Christ. He writes in his book, “The Communists convened a congress of all Christian bodies in our Parliament building. There were four thousand priests, pastors, and ministers of all denominations… One after another, bishops and pastors arose and declared that communism and Christianity were fundamentally the same and could coexist….

My wife(Sabina) and I were present at this congress. Sabina told me, 'Richard, stand up and wash away this shame from the face of Christ! They are spitting in His face.' I said to her, 'If I do so, you lose your husband.' She replied, 'I don't wish to have a coward as a husband.' "

So Richard stood up and stated with undeniable clarity the exclusivity of the Gospel. His lone voice courageously declared that Christianity and communism were not essentially the same, nor could they co-exist. The immediate result because of his steadfast devotion to Christ cost him years of imprisonment and indescribable torture and both he and Sabina suffered.”

He was persecuted so much for the name of Christ that many a times he was at the brink of death. Once he was left in a ward where only dying prisoners would be kept and none could ever come out of those wards. But God healed Wurmbrand and brought him out of that prison cell too. He lived many more years after that and also a day came in his life when he was released from jail.

Often people think that once you come to Christ, your life will become smooth. But not so. Christian life is not a bed of roses but the way of the cross. When Jesus spoke to some asking them to follow Him, they told Him that they have to finish some work before they follow Him. But Jesus clearly told them that they are not worthy of them. We read in Luke 9:62, Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

Once you have given your life to Jesus, know for sure that the way of thorns is ahead of you. But the beauty of it is that no matter what may happen to you, He will come with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. He will walk before you and show you the way where there is no way.

Are you discouraged today because of persecution in your life because you preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Here are the words of Jesus written in Luke 6:22-23, “Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.”

Are You a Christian? – Checklist for you

By Sherly Isaac

As soon as you hear the word 'Christian', you understand that it is the religion of a person. Probably many would think that a person who is a Christian goes to Church, reads Bible, Prays to Jesus and performs such Christian religious duties. But does it really make a person a Christian?

Bible tells us in Acts 11:26, “…And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”

Who were disciples? Careful study of Bible reveals that those who accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and decided to follow Him with all their heart were called disciples. When Jesus called His first twelve disciples, they immediately followed Him no matter what they were doing. They left their professions, possessions and followed Him with all their heart.

Once Jesus was in a prayer meeting and His mother and brothers stood outside seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You." But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?" And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! "For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.(Mat 12:46 -50)"

In the Book of Acts we read about a very learned man, a Pharisee who was so jealous about his religion that he took permission from the high priests and authorities to kill Christians. He thought that those Jews who had been converted to Christianity and those who followed Christ have done a big mistake and thought that it amounted to committing a big sin. But when he was traveling to Damascus, a bright light shone around him and Jesus spoke to him as we read in Acts 9:3-6, “As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads." So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

One encounter with Jesus made every difference in the life of Saul (Paul). His life was so transformed that he left the idea of killing others. Instead he started preaching in the synagogues as we read in Acts 9:20-22, “Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed, and said, "Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?" But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.”

The first sign of being a Christian is that the person should have personal relationship with God and a transformed life. Unless a person has personal relationship with Christ, he/she cannot call himself a Christian. This relationship does not develop just because the person belongs to a Christian family or just because the person is a member of any Church. But this relationship comes when a person repents from his sin and turns to Christ.

In John first chapter the apostle John describes about Jesus that He is God and the very light of the world and yet when He came to His own, they did not receive Him. Later in 3rd chapter we read the reason why, given by Jesus Himself in John 3:19-20, "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

But to those who received Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior to them He gave the right to become children of God as we read in John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Probably you perform all the duties of the Christian faith but it does not make you a Christian unless you give your life to Jesus and do according to His will as written in the Bible.

Standing in the Gap - Fasting prayer on 8th Dec.. 2015

As the Bible says in Ezekiel 22:30 "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it." And also the Bible says in Numbers 16:48, "And he (Aaron) stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped." We have fasting prayer every second Tuesday of each month. Our next fasting prayer meeting will be conducted on 16th Nov. 2015

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Through the Valley of Death

As many of you know that in the year 2005, our dad was very sick even unto death. God miraculously healed him. We have compiled it in a book form. I sure believe that it will inspire you and encourage you greatly.

Free Tutorials for your Kids!

Now you can learn Graphics and web designing online. These tutorials are free but you may need to get login ID by registering yourslef. Currently tutorials for Paint Shop Pro, HTML and Dreamweaver/Fireworks are available but in future more tutorials will be added.